Vimbuza The Healing Dance of Northern Malawi

The purpose of this book is to show that the possession cult of Vimbuza presents itself as an oral genre which is part and parcel of African Oral Literature. The ethnolinguistic study which we undertake will permit us to catch a glimpse of its whole complexity. The analysis has a bearing on four principal aspects. Historical developments: a certain number of facts concerning the birth of possession among the Tumbuka; possession: the study attempts to show how the cult articulates itself with its beliefs and the use of divination; the social role: analysis of social functions; the style: an analysis of the linguistic procedures which are characteristic of Vimbuza songs. The presence of rhetorical figures would confirm that we are talking about an oral literary genre.

Cover

Title Page, Copyright

Foreword

UNESCO must be commended for recognizing the Vimbuza healing
dance of the Tumbuka of Northern Malawi. We would like to thank, in
particular, UNESCO Malawi for recommending this to their headquarters
in Paris. This decision has ultimately led to the promotion and safeguarding
of the dance as part of the world's cultural heritage. ...

Contents

Introduction

Our readings on and actual experience of Vimbuza possession dances phenomenon was widespread, we thought that an in depth study could produce some interesting scientific results. In fact, there is enough material in Vimbuza for sociological, historical, medical and ethnological investigations. ...

1. Historical Background

The history of the Vimbuza healing dance goes back in time to the
beginning of Scottish missionary work and the colonial era. It came into
the limelight especially when the Nyasaland colonial government banned
it in the 1920s following articles presented almost exclusively by
missionaries and their local converts of Livingstonia Free Church of
Scotland in Northern Malawi. ...

2. Vimbuza as a Possession Cult

This chapter deals with the stages through which a Vimbuza dancer
passes. The information is essentially that which obtained in the 1970s
and 1980s. Latest additions have been included although they do not
change much the general outlook. ...

3. Vimbuza as a Social Fact

The preceding chapter presented two social functions. It concerned, in the
first place, the therapeutic of the Vimbuza dance. Secondly, we described
the role played by diviner/healers in the struggle against sorcery. Apart
from these two functions, it is important to include several others. ...

4. Style in Vimbuza Songs

The analysis of Vimbuza songs appears, in this sense, incomplete from the
moment when one does not force oneself to apprehend the manner in
which the different texts are structured. As our study has a bearing on a
relatively restricted sample (130 songs), we cannot attempt an exhaustive
presentation of the totality of stylistic procedures which one can uncover
through all the Vimbuza songs. ...

5. Vimbuza Songs

In this chapter we present the songs in their original version. It is proper to
point out the preponderance of Vimbuza songs. These are all sung in
Tumbuka, while those of Virombo and Vyanusi posed a problem of
translation.,1 ...

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